《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》31 Meet the Ten Richest People(II)

　　Unit 31
Meet the Ten Richest People in the World in 2000 (II)
5. King Fahd Bin¹ Abdulaziz Alsaud
Age: 77. Nationality: Saudi Arabian. Marital² Status: Married. Children: 1. Worth: $28 Billion.
Born in Riyadh in 1923, the King has spent his life on one diplomatic mission after another. He came to power in 1982, and all of his money is in oil, investments, property, and the sweat of his people. All because of the great defining factor of birth. Yes, birth and dumb luck.
4. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
Age: 53. Nationality: Bruneian. Marital Status: Married. Children: 10. Worth: $30 Billion.
The money of the 29th Sultan of Brunei is in, say it with me now, oil, gas, investments, and yes, the ever-popular sweat of his people. Especially that oil thing, which has made so many billionaires in the Middle East. The illustrious Sultan also has two wives and ten kids.
3. Gardner Paul Allen
Age: 46. Nationality: American. Marital Status: Single. Children: 0. Worth: $30 Billion
Another Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen is the buddy³ who dropped out with Bill Gates to build the software company that now holds a monopolistic stranglehold on the world. Paul dropped out of Microsoft some time ago to spend his time privately⁴ investing his money. He pursues his dream of a "wired world" by buying up cable operators and other technology-related companies. It's not all tedious tech stuff, though. Paul was also smart enough to invest in sports teams. Single guy, $30 billion, owns a couple of sports teams, knows Bill Gates personally...
2. Warren Edward Buffet⁵
Age: 68. Nationality: American. Marital Status: Married. Children: 3. Worth: $36 Billion.
Strangely enough, Buffet's investment style is conservative, leaning more to the long-term buy. Warren owns about 40 percent of the investment conglomerate⁶ Berkshire Hathawa, and at over $47,000 a share, it will be a while before anyone buys him out.
1. William H. Gates III
Age: 43. Nationality: American. Martial⁷ Status: Married. Children: 2. Worth: $90 Billion.
We should all just face the fact Bill Gates will one day rule the world. By the time Windows 2015 comes out, all will fear Bill's wrath⁸. The son of a lawyer father and teacher mother, Gates dropped out of Harvard University to work on Microsoft. The rest, as they all too frequently say, is history. Microsoft became this huge international corporation, and is currently fighting off anti-trust investigations⁹ and accusations¹⁰ that it holds a monopoly. When Bill rules the world, he's going to fire those federal court judges with extreme prejudice. They'll never work on his planet again!
So to get onto our list of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Billionaires, you must: join Microsoft (preferably early on), be an oil baron¹¹, drop out of college, get married, have 3.1 kids, inherit lots of money, and bleed your people dry. Tell your friends!

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

3 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

6 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

7 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

8 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。